The government of Donald Trump confirmed that the United States and the provisional authorities of Venezuela reached an agreement to restore their diplomatic and consular relations, as announced by the State Department in a statement released by the portal NTN24.
The agreement establishes that the provisional Venezuelan authorities will be able to reaccredit diplomats in U.S. territory and initiate the formal restoration of their diplomatic presence in the country.
Washington committed to working alongside the provisional authorities and Venezuelan society on four fundamental areas: stabilization, economic recovery, political reconciliation, and transition to a democratically elected government.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been the main spokesperson for this policy of rapprochement.
"The ultimate goal is a friendly, stable, prosperous, and democratic Venezuela, with free and fair elections," Rubio stated in remarks gathered by Venezuelan and international media.
The announcement coincided with the visible renovation of the Consulate General of Venezuela in New York, located next to St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, whose facade transformed from a state of neglect to a completely renovated appearance between the end of August and September 11 itself.
This new diplomatic milestone is part of a bilateral normalization process that accelerated significantly throughout 2026, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces on January 3 of that year and the assumption of Delcy Rodríguez as the acting president of Venezuela.
The path to this agreement began in March, when Venezuela announced the restoration of diplomatic and consular relations with Washington, and Trump formally recognized Rodríguez's government.
Shortly thereafter, the U.S. raised its flag at the embassy in Caracas for the first time since 2019, and on March 30, the State Department announced the official resumption of operations at its diplomatic headquarters in the Venezuelan capital, ending more than seven years of direct absence.
The break had begun on January 23, 2019, when Maduro ordered the expulsion of U.S. diplomats from Caracas following Washington's recognition of Juan Guaidó as interim president.
The diplomatic agreement in September comes weeks after another significant move: at the end of August, Trump announced what he described as "the largest oil agreement in history" with Venezuela, involving concessions on 17 fields and about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves, negotiated through the private firm North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP).
Rubio estimated that this energy pact would attract more than 100 billion dollars in private investment to Venezuela, and emphasized that the resources of the Caribbean nation would eventually benefit a democratically elected government.
Sectors of the Venezuelan opposition have questioned both the oil agreement and the pace of diplomatic normalization, arguing that these deals could consolidate chavismo without real guarantees of free elections.
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